Tuesday, May 1, 2007

If you need to lose weight and are considering diet pills, please read the following information. You can then make a better-informed decision.

FACTS ABOUT DIET PILLS:

* All serious diet or weight loss pills are designed for overweight people suffering from obesity. They are anti-obesity drugs - not pills for fast or easy weight loss. REPEAT: They are not the solution for fast or easy weight loss.

* When using diet pills, make them part of a comprehensive weight-loss program that includes regular exercise and a healthy low-calorie diet. Otherwise, all you will lose is money.

* Beware of over-the-counter diet pills, weight loss products and dietary supplements. These weight loss products are NOT regulated, contain active ingredients that have no proven weight loss benefits, and may damage your weight and health.

* Beware of diet pills advertised as NATURAL or HERBAL. Weight loss pills are not necessarily healthier or more effective for weight loss because they contain so-called natural ingredients. Herbal ingredients of diet pills are linked to a wide range of health problems.

* Beware of diet pills called fat-burners when trying to lose weight. The only effective and safe way to directly raise metabolism and burn fat is to increase exercise.

* If you are thinking of buying diet pills, always consult your doctor FIRST. Discuss your weight loss options fully, and ask about all the known side effects and health risks of the diet and weight loss pills suggested.

* When taking diet pills, ALWAYS follow the instructions of the manufacturer.

* Do not stay on diet pills for more than 4-6 weeks without consulting your doctor.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS OF DIET PILLS:

Over the short term, weight loss in obese individuals may reduce a number of health risks. Studies looking at the effects of weight loss medication treatment on obesity-related health risks have found that some diet pills lower blood pressure, blood cholesterol, triglycerides (fats) and decrease insulin resistance (the inability of the body to use blood sugar) over the short term. However, long-term studies are needed to determine if diet and weight loss pills can improve health.

POTENTIAL RISKS OF DIET PILLS:

When considering long-term weight loss medication treatment for obesity, you should consider the many potential risks. The following are major areas of concern:

Abuse of, or dependence on diet pills - Currently, all prescription drugs to treat obesity are controlled substances, meaning doctors need to follow certain restrictions when prescribing weight loss medications. Although abuse and dependence are not common with non-amphetamine appetite-suppressant medications, doctors should be cautious when they prescribe these medications for patients with a history of alcohol or other drug abuse.

Development of tolerance to diet pills - Most studies of weight loss drugs show that the weight of a patient tends to level off after four to six months while still on medication. While some patients and physicians may be concerned that this shows tolerance to the diet pills, the leveling off may mean that the medication has reached its limit of effectiveness. Based on the currently available studies, it is not clear if weight gain with continuing treatment is due to drug tolerance.

POTENTIAL SIDE EFFECTS OF DIET PILLS:

Because weight loss medications are used to treat a condition that affects millions of people, many of whom are basically healthy, their potential for side effects is of great concern. Most side effects of these medications are mild and usually improve with continued treatment. Rarely, serious and even fatal outcomes have been reported.

Some known side effects are symptoms of sleeplessness, nervousness, and euphoria. Elevations in blood pressure and pulse, which are usually small but may be significant in some patients, can occur. People with poorly controlled high blood pressure, heart disease, irregular heartbeat, or history of stroke should not take diet pills without the approval and supervision of their doctor.

POTENTIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF DIET PILLS:

Diet and weight loss drugs or pills, whether prescription or over-the-counter, are not MAGIC BULLETS. They cannot take the place of improving your diet and becoming more physically active. The major role of medications appears to be to help a person stay on a healthy diet and exercise plan to lose weight and keep it off.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Obesity is one of the most prevalent and common health problems among human beings, and when no amount of exercise and diet control helps, people resort to the scientific solution of diet pills.

You’ve seen them advertised on the web, in magazines, and in infomercials - diet pills, drinks, teas, and bars. The market today is flooded with companies claiming to have magical pills which lead to instant weight reduction with no side effects. These products are known as dietary supplements because they are ingested and contain vitamins, minerals, herbs, other botanicals, amino acids, or substances such as enzymes, organ tissues, and metabolites. Dietary supplements can be tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, or powders. They can also come in the form of bars, as long as the bar is not labeled as a conventional food or meal replacement.

There are different types of diet pills which work in different ways. For example, 7 Keto is an awesome metabolic enhancing compound that helps to reduce body weight and body fat by giving you more of a hormone that tells your thyroid to increase your metabolism. Then there is Hoodia by itself, not combined with other compounds, which appears to affect the brain by making the stomach feel full and reducing the desire to eat. Diet Pills available over the counter (OTC) contain a combination of medications, usually phenylpropanolamine (PPA) and caffeine, which act to control appetite. Caffeine, also a stimulant, results in increased alertness and decreased drowsiness and fatigue when taken in low doses (50-200 mg). Caffeine also has some weak appetite-suppressant properties.

Multivitamins should also be used as a supplement as they help you maintain the muscle that you have by providing nutrients your cells need. While ephedra has been banned, another supplement of choice has become green tea extract, which is a stimulant of the same nature as ephedra.

However, there's no free lunch with diet pills: They work much better accompanied by the hard work of dieting and exercise. Another thing is maintaining the scale after stopping the intake of pills. Diet drugs, such as Meridia, Xenical and rimonabant, can help shrink waistlines, but keeping that weight off may be the toughest part. Obesity can easily return once individuals quit exercising and eating right, or stop using a weight-loss medication.

Diet pills and other products contain a complicated mixture of vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, or substances like enzymes, organ tissues, and metabolites. The way they work together can determine how they work with your body. And it’s not always a great combination.

Whether they’re natural or manmade, the ingredients in diet pills are, at their most basic level, chemicals. And that means that they can react with your own body chemistry, with medications you may be taking – including birth control -- or with other things that you ingest – in a way that you can’t predict.

Also remember that most diet pills are NOT FDA approved and it is definitely a situation of buyer beware. Heart palpitation and racing can occur and in many cases if overused death is a possibility. As always, the best person to talk to is a nutritionist